Karen’s Pick
June 2019
The Cook
Maylis de Kerangal (translated from French by am Taylor)
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York
March 26, 2019
French author Maylis de Kerangal’s (The Heart -2013) The Cook is a beautiful
atmospheric novel that at times is so hyper-realistic it seems to be a biography. The simply stated book title refers to the main character Mauro, a young Frenchmen, who is passionate about food and cooking. I think it fair to state that to fully appreciate this story the reader should define themselves as a “foodie”; but not only the sort of ‘foodie” that enjoys a great meal, but the kind that goes to bed and wakes up thinking about food, believes a visit to the food market is an outing or an opportunity to unearth a culinary treasure, and one who chooses not to serve a complicated preparation that may be only somewhat underwhelming!
The author invokes the help of an unnamed narrator to introduce Mauro’s episodic story that begins with Mauro as a young teenager. Mauro views the family kitchen as part play ground and part laboratory and continually treats his five friends, who are collectively known as the Aulnay Six, to picnic meals that are carefully thought out, well executed, and appropriately underappreciated by the teenagers. Throughout his formative years his interest in food persists and develops into a way of life that is in no way altered by earning a Master’s Degree in Economics. He unreservedly puts the university degree aside and we “witness” his transformation from student to a cook to a culinary master. It is increasing clear that Mauro never loses sight of what has driven his life- the quest for exceptional food products, development of a remarkable work ethic, the ability to provide incomparable dining experiences, and his continual search for the next inspiration.
As a developing chef he travels from France to Thailand, to Burma and again back to France working in kitchens looking for “tastes that give him back the capacity for surprise”. Mauro’s experiences serve as a platform for the answer to the question that plagues him–what am I doing? Singularly he searches for the answer as he travels from country to country, restaurant to restaurant, kitchen to kitchen.
However, if he were interested in external sources, Mauro would find the answer from restaurant reviewers and food enthusiasts. The narrator informs us that Mauro’s followers are food devotees who understand that “Contrary to what many believe, the most gifted and innovative chef is not necessarily the one who transforms the ingredients, but the one who most intensely restores their flavor”.
For this reader, Mauro’s experience is reminiscent of Anthony Bourdain’s confessional of a chef’s life in Kitchen Confidential, and an emergence of self, in James Joyce’s A Portrait of The Artist as a Young Man. As in both these books Mayla de Kerangal’s The Cook, skillfully creates story that allows for an armchair tour of a man’s life journey that is purposeful, and determined.
I highly recommended this book to readers who are food enthusiasts, lovers of a prosaic story, and are thoughtful participants in ones life experiences.